Management of shared media content

ABSTRACT

A media device allows users to watch and capture portions from a media broadcast. Users may then share the captured media content items with other users, for example, by uploading the items to a community website. Before providing requested media content items to other users, the website may combine advertisements with the media content items. The website may receive advertising revenue from advertisers and may share the advertising revenue with owners of the media content items in exchange for their permission to provide the media content items. The advertisers may provide restrictions on how the advertisements are combined with the media content items, and the content owners may provide restrictions on how the media content items are provided to the users.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/823,066, filed on Aug. 21, 2006, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety; the application is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/147,664, filed onJun. 7, 2005, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/577,833, filed Jun. 7, 2004, both of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

This application is also related to U.S. application Ser. No.11/620,707, filed concurrently herewith on Jan. 7, 2007, which isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to media content management, and inparticular to the distribution of shared media content withadvertisements and financial arrangements among the distributors,advertisers, and content owners.

2. Background of the Invention

Television and other video content, as well as a myriad of othermultimedia, are increasingly finding a home on new devices. For example,television programming is no longer found solely on the television.Through computer networks, as well as other delivery mechanisms,television and other media content are increasingly becoming availableon other devices, such as personal computers, mobile phones, PDAs, andother portable computing devices. The increasing availability of themedia content also enables viewers to record and share them with others.

One conventional approach for people to share media content is through apeer to peer (P2P) computer network, such as Napster. A P2P computernetwork is a network that relies primarily on the computing power andbandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentratingthem in a relatively low number of servers. Users of the P2P computernetwork can share media content stored in computers on the network.However, because much of the media content shared includes copies ofcopyrighted popular multimedia content (e.g., music and movies), sharingof the media content without copyright owners' permissions is illegal inmost jurisdictions. Copyright owners (also known as content owners) tendnot to grant such permissions because they do not receive any benefit inreturn. Also, P2P computer network does not provide content owners withthe ability to control the distribution of their media content.

Another conventional approach to share media content is for the contentowners to provide mechanisms for users to share their media content. Forexample, the content owners can provide their media content in theirwebsites. People who want to access the media content can visit thesewebsites to access them. However, this approach is inconvenient for theusers because there is no central place to access media content. Also,not all content owners have the financial capacity to provide mechanismsfor users to access their media content.

Thus, from the above, there is a need for a system and process allowingusers to share media content, granting the content owners rights tocontrol the use of their media content, and enabling operators of thesystem and process to generate advertisement revenue.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention allow users of a community website to sharemedia content with other users of the website while grant rights toowners of the shared media content to control the use of their content.Embodiments of the invention also enable the operator of the website togenerate advertising revenue and share the revenue with the contentowners for the sharing of their content.

In one embodiment, the community website receives media content fromusers and combines the media content with advertisements. Upon users'request for the media content, the community website provides thecombined media content and advertisements to the users. The communitywebsite receives advertisement fees from advertisers in exchange forproviding the combined media content and advertisements to the users.The community website provides a portion of the advertisement fees toowners of the media content in exchange for permission to provide thecombined media content and advertisements to the users.

In another embodiment, owners of media content can set restrictions ontheir media content to control the use of their media content. Inexchange for the website's enforcement of the restrictions the contentowners may give permission to distribute the content items. In yetanother embodiment, advertisers can set restrictions on theiradvertisements to control the combination of the advertisements with themedia content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a mediadevice, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process for recording and sharing mediaclips, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3( a)-(c) illustrate examples of user interfaces for recording andsharing media clips, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a mediacontent management system, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram of a process for sharing media content,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the interactions among the website,users, advertisers, and content owners in a business model using themedia content management system, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the followingdiscussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methodsillustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principlesof the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Overview

Embodiments of the invention provide an integrated user interface tousers of a media device to view media content, record media clips, editthe clips, associate the clips with relevant meta data, and share theprocessed media clips with others. As used herein, media content andmedia clips may include any type of media content, including audio orvideo content, or both. Users can view a media stream, record a portionof the media stream they deemed interesting into a media clip, and sendthe media clip to others using the integrated user interface.

Embodiments of the invention allow users of a media content managementsystem to share media content with other users of the system. Users ofthe media content management system can upload media content (e.g.,media clips) to the system to share the uploaded media content toothers, who can download that media content from the system.Alternatively, the media may ultimately be distributed to viewers via apeer to peer distributed system. That is, the content may bealternatively stored on the computers and other devices of the end usersof the system. When a user wishes to view a clip from the system, theclip is sourced from one or more of the other users, or peers.

Embodiments of the invention allow owners of the shared media content(“content owners”) to control the use of their content. Content ownerscan set a broad range of restrictions on their media content limitingthe use of their media content. Examples of the restrictions include theduration, the quality (e.g., resolution, frame rate of a video content,bit rate of an audio content), and the number of people allowed toaccess the media content.

Embodiments of the invention may also enable the operator of the mediacontent management system to generate advertising revenue. The systemcombines media content with advertisements and provides the combinedmedia content and advertisements to users upon their requests for themedia content. The advertising revenue includes advertising fees paid byadvertisers for providing their advertisements to the users. Theadvertising revenue can be shared with the content owners for theirpermission to share their content with the users of the system.Advertisements may be sold by the operator of the media contentmanagement system or the content owners. Advertisements may also be soldvia the use of an automated ad purchase system using key words or othermeta data available which is associated with a clip. That is, a smallbusiness may want to place an ad opposite any clip of a specific show.Perhaps through a web interface, the small business owner could purchasethe ad and upload the creative content which would be shown as anadvertisement whenever a clip of the desired show is viewed by a user.

The media content management system described herein can also promotethe lawful sharing of copyrighted media content by giving the copyrightowners right to control the use of their media content and sharing theadvertising revenue generated by distributing advertisement with theirmedia content.

Media Device Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the architecture of a media device 100 inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, themedia device 100 includes a media player module 110, a media editormodule 120, and a network client module 130. The media device 100 iscommunicatively connected to a media broadcaster 140 and a server 150.

The media device 100 includes hardware and/or software devices that areconfigured to enable users to view media content; record, edit, andassociate meta data with the media clip (“clipping”); and share therecorded media clip with others through a single, integrated userinterface. The media device 100 is adapted to execute computer programmodules. As used herein, the term “module” refers to computer programlogic and/or data for providing the specified functionality. A modulecan be implemented in hardware, firmware, and/or software.

In one embodiment, the media device 100 is a software applicationrunning on any general or multi-purpose device (such as a personalcomputer, mobile device, cellular phone, or any other computing devicewith sufficient capabilities for these tasks), beneficially avoiding theneed for users to carry special equipment to transmit media content toand/or receive media content from the media management server 410.Alternatively, the media device 100 can be a dedicated appliance, suchas a place-shifting system or a personal video recorder (PVR). In thecase of a placeshifting system (an example of which is the Slingbox fromSling Media), the placeshifting appliance interacts with softwarelocated on another device such as a PC or mobile phone by streamingcontent from the placeshifting appliance to the client device.

The media player module 110 is configured to play media content receivedfrom the media broadcaster 140, which may be any source of media,including a placeshifting device. The media content may be delivered tothe media device 100 in a variety of ways, including over the airtransmission (analog and digital), via cable infrastructure, IPtransport (via wired and wireless means), satellite transmission, aswell as through many other methods. The models for delivery of contentto the media device 100 may vary, including pay-per-view, linearprogramming, on demand streaming, download and playback, and livestreaming from another location, placeshifting, among many others.

The media editor module 120 is configured to provide users withfunctionality of recording (or capturing) the media content played bythe media player module 110. In one embodiment, the media editor module120 can cache the media content played and provide users with an editingwindow to define a media clip from the cached content. This allows auser to capture, process, edit, and upload easily a clip that theyrecently viewed. The media editor module 120 can be further configuredto converting the defined media clip from one media format to another orperform any other transcoding, encoding, or other processing on the clipas desired.

The network client module 130 is configured to transmit the recordedmedia clip to the server 150, or alternatively, to other end users in adistributed storage and distribution architecture. The network clientmodule 130 can be configured to connect with the server 150 through awired or wireless network. Examples of the network include the Internet,an intranet, a cellular network, or a combination thereof. The server150 can be a web server, an email server, or other computing deviceswith network capacity.

The media broadcaster 140 transmits the media content to the mediadevice 100. It can be a central server at a remote broadcastinglocation, or a computer at a user's home. In one embodiment, the mediabroadcaster 140 can be a time-shifting device (e.g., a personal videorecorder) or a placeshifting device (e.g., a personal broadcaster). Inplaceshifting, a user can watch or listen to live, recorded or storedmedia on a remote device via a data network. For example, a user maystream content from a device at home (such as a satellite receiver,cable box, or digital video recorder) to a cellular phone, which canreceive the media from across the house, across town, or across theworld. This transmission may use public or private networks. A productthat currently provides such a placeshifting application is theSLINGBOX™ from Sling Media, Inc., and described in co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 11/147,664, filed Jun. 7, 2005, the content ofwhich are incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Operation of the Media Device

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process of the media device 100 for recording(or clipping) and sharing media clips in accordance with one embodimentof the invention. The process illustrated in FIG. 2 may be implementedin software, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.

The process illustrated in FIG. 2 starts with the media device 100receiving 210 media content from the media broadcaster 140. The mediacontent can be in the form of a media stream (e.g., televisionbroadcasting). In one embodiment, the media player module 110 plays themedia stream on the integrated user interface. One example of this userinterface is illustrated in FIG. 3( a). The user interface in FIG. 3( a)includes a media display window 310 to display the received video streamlive, which includes controls for users to control the video play (e.g.,volume control 312, record button 314) and indicators indicating thestatus of the video stream (e.g., network transmission speed, videostream status, and video stream title).

Referring back to FIG. 2, the media device 100 receives 220 a commandfrom a user to clip or otherwise capture a portion of the media. Theuser may submit the command by interacting with the integrated userinterface. For example, the user can trigger a designated control (e.g.,the record button 314) using a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or touchsensitive screen) or using a keypad. Alternatively, the user may submitthe command using devices such as a remote control (e.g., a remotecontrol for a DVR, cable box, satellite receiver, or other mediasource).

Once the device 100 receives the command, the media editor module 120may bring up a media editing window in the integrated user interface.The media editing window allows the user to select the starting pointand the ending point of the media content that the user would like tocapture. In one embodiment, as the media player module 110 plays themedia stream, the media editor module 120 continually captures andcaches the last five minutes (or some other designated time period) ofmedia content played. The media editor module 110 may be configured todiscard the earliest recorded content when the cached stream hits fiveminutes (or some other designated time period) so that the media that iscached is always the most recent media that has been played. This allowsthe user to select a portion of what is currently in the cache. Inanother embodiment, such as with a PVR, the media stream being played bythe device 100 may already be stored in a memory, so there is no need tocache a portion of the media being played. In such a case, the capturedclip is just a cropped version of a larger media file already stored inmemory.

One example of this user interface is illustrated in FIG. 3( b). Theuser interface in FIG. 3( b) displays the media editing window 320adjacent to the media play window 310. The media editing window includesa video window 322 displaying the cached media content. The videoediting window also includes a slider 324 below the video windowrepresenting the duration of the cached portion of the video stream. Asshown in FIG. 3( b), the media editing window 320 is displayed adjacentto the media play window 310; however, the media editing window 320 maybe displayed as a separate window or by any other method as desired forthe user interface.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the media device 100 receives 230 userselections for defining a desired media clip. In one embodiment, a usercan select the desired start point and end point through the mediaediting window. For example, in the user interface illustrated in FIG.3( b), a user can make the selection by marking the start and end pointson the slider 324. In one embodiment, the media device 100 checks andenforces restrictions contained in the metadata of the media stream orotherwise associated therewith. For example, if the restrictions limitthe duration of a clip, the media device 100 will not allow the mediaclip to exceed that limit. The user may also select a frame within themedia clip as a representative thumbnail image for the media clip. Themedia device 100 creates a media clip based on the user selection.

The media device 100 may also tag 240 information to the media clip,such as meta data that describes the clip. The information to be taggedcan be manually input by the user and/or it may be automaticallyassociated with the clip. For example, once the clip is captured, theuser may input words, phrases, pictures, URLs, titles, actors, networks,channels, or other meta data that the user believes should be associatedwith the clip. Alternatively or additionally, other methods forautomated tagging may be used, such as methods that automaticallydetermine information about the content of the clip and tag the clipwith that information. This information may be retrieved from a numberof sources, including an electronic program guide (EPG) or the settingson the computing devices. Other observed information may also be asource for tagging information, including the time of day, time zone orlocation, channel number, title of show, episode, network, etc. Theinformation may further include information expressly associated withthe video clip, which may be delivered via the VBI, over an IP network,or by some other means. Other information, such as the closedcaptioning, may also be a source for automatic tagging. The informationtabbed to the media clip can be stored in its metadata. In someembodiments, the user can also change the format of the media clip andset other encoding parameters, such as bit rate.

The media device 100 can transmit 250 the media clip as the userinstructs. The user can submit the instruction through the integrateduser interface. For example, the media edit window can include adesignated button for uploading the media clip to a community website.The user can configure the button to send automatically, manually post,or otherwise upload the media clip to the community website or otheronline location. The user can configure the button to link with hisaccount in the website. The user can click the button and the networkclient module 130 will upload the media client. Alternatively, the mediaedit window can include a drop-down menu allowing the user to selectrecipients of an email notification. After the media clip is uploaded, anotice will be sent to the email addresses of the selected recipients,noticing them that the user has uploaded a clip, with a pointerreference to the clip stored on the website. This allows the user toshare content with a community of users rather than a particularselected person or persons. The community sharing model also enablescertain business and advertising schemes, described in greater detailbelow. In other embodiments, the user can also instruct the media device100 to save the media clip in a local or remote location.

Alternatively, rather than uploading the media clip, the media device100 may call an email client (or other local communication client) tocreate a new email message and attach the media clip to the message. Theuser can then select the intended recipients of the message and send themessage. The media device 100 can also automatically send out themessage if the recipient or destination of the video clip has alreadybeen determined. The address book databases can be those available fromemail clients such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, and others, aswell as any Internet based messaging services, such as MSN Messenger andAOL Instant Messenger.

Example Process for the Media Device

The process described above can be further illustrated through anexample of an operation of the media device 100 in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. In this example, the media device 100 is alaptop computer. The media device 100 receives a video stream from aplaceshifting system (e.g., a SLINGBOX™) and plays the video stream inan integrated user interface on the computer screen to a user.

When watching the video stream, the user sees something he would like toshare with friends. The user presses the record button on the integrateduser interface, which immediately launches a media editing window withinthe application. Within the media editing window, the user has access tolast five minutes (or some other duration) of video viewed, which wascached on the hard drive of the laptop computer. The user sets the startpoint and end point, adds a title to the clip, and presses a recipientbutton, which brings up a list of friends. The user selects the intendedfriends. Meta data associated with the clip may also be added manuallyor automatically. Then the user clicks an upload button on theintegrated user interface. The media device 100 uploads the video clipto a community website, and sends a notification email with a pointerreference to the uploaded video clip to the selected friends.

After receiving the notification email, the user's friends can click thepointer and view the video clip in the community website.

Similar experiences are also possible with other devices and solutions.For example, a similar experience can be had on a mobile phone thatreceives a video stream from a placeshifting device. Alternatively, theinterface can be integrated into a DVR connected to the Internet, withthe clipping experience presented to the user via a television set andcontrolled via a remote control. In yet another alternative, theinterface may be used on a PC that is not receiving content via aplaceshifting device but rather directly via an audio video input (e.g.,cable coax) into the PC. Accordingly, the process of viewing, clipping,and sending clips can be advantageously used in a number of differentcontexts.

Media Content Management System Architecture

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the architecture of a media contentmanagement system 400 in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. In this embodiment, the system 400 includes a mediamanagement server 410, an advertisement server 420, and three clientdevices 430A-C. The media management server 410, the advertisementserver 420, and the client devices 430 are communicatively coupledthrough a network 440.

The media management server 410 includes a hardware and/or softwaredevice that is configured to receive media content from and/or providethe received media content to the client devices 430 through the network440. Media content may include data in medium such as text, audio, stillimages, video, and graphics, and a combination thereof. Media contentcan be in different formats. For example, audio content can be encodedin Windows Media Audio (WMA) format or in MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3)format. In one embodiment, the media management server 410 includes aweb server 412, an application server 414, a payment server 416, and amedia store 418. The media management server 410 can also include othercomponents (e.g., an email server), although FIG. 4 omits suchcomponents for clarity.

The web server 412 is a front end of the media management server 410 andfunctions as a communication gateway of the media management server 410.The web server 412 receives media content transmitted to the mediamanagement server 410 from the client devices 430 through the network440 and stores the received media content in the media store 418. Theweb server 412 also receives requests for specific media content unitsfrom the client devices 430, retrieves the requested media content unitsfrom the media store 418, and provides them to the client devices 430.In one embodiment, the web server 412 is an Internet web server hostingone or more websites.

The web server 412 can support multiple communication protocols for theclient devices 430 to send and request media content. For example, theweb server 412 can be configured to support file transfer protocol (FTP)such that the client devices 430 can provide and/or access media contentusing FTP. As another example, the web server 412 may host webpages forusers to upload and/or download media content. The web server 412 canprovide media content to the client devices 430 in the form of mediafiles or media streams that are suitable for transmission over thenetwork 440, where the media streams can be viewed by end users at theclient device 430.

The application server 414 is configured to combine media content withadvertisements and provide the combined media content and advertisementto the web server 412. Like media content, advertisements can includedata in medium such as texts, audio and video. In some embodiments,instead of advertisements, the application server 414 combines mediacontent with other information (e.g., information about the subjectmatter of the media content).

The payment server 416 is configured to track balances of relatedparties (e.g., advertisers, copyright owners, users) based on a paymentmodel. The payment server 416 can also work with the web server 412 toprovide the related parties online access to their accounts. The relatedparties can check account balance, make payments, and transfer funds totheir other accounts by accessing their accounts. The payment server 416can also periodically send invoices and account balance reports to therelated parties. In one embodiment, the payment server 416 can beconfigured to enable the related parties to connect their accounts withtheir bank accounts and authorize the payment server 416 toautomatically deposit money to and/or withdraw money from their bankaccounts.

In one embodiment, the payment server 416 is also configured to keeptrack of the relationships between the media content and the relatedparties. The relationships include content owners and their mediacontent, advertisers and their advertisements, and users and the mediacontent that they uploaded and/or downloaded. Multiple parties can haveownership interests in one media content unit. For example, a video clipcan have multiple copyright holders and multiple licensees. Theidentities of these content owners can be provided in the metadataaccompanying the media content unit. In one embodiment, the paymentserver 416 creates an account for each content owner and links theaccount with media content units the content owner has interests in. Forexample, the account for the Walt Disney Studios can be associated withall video content and graphical content having the image of Mickey Mousealong with other media content owned by the Walt Disney Studios.Similarly, the payment server 416 can also create an account for eachadvertiser and associate the account with its advertisements, and createan account for each user and associate the account with media contentunits the user uploaded and/or downloaded. This information can be usedto determine balances of the parties. The account information can besaved in the media store 418 together with the media content.

The media store 418 stores the data received from the web server 412,the application server 414 and the payment server 416. These datainclude media content received from the client devices 430, informationassociated with the media content (e.g., ownership information), andinformation about the related parties (e.g., account information). Themedia store 418 may be a relational database or any other type ofdatabase that stores the above-described data. The media store 418 maybe accessible by the web server 412, the application server 414, and thepayment server 416. The web server 412, the application server 414, thepayment server 416, and the media store 418 may be stored and operatedon a single computer or on separate computer systems communicating witheach other through a network.

The advertisement server 420 includes a hardware and/or software devicethat is configured to provide advertisements to the media managementserver 410 and/or the client devices 430. In one embodiment, theadvertisement server 420 includes an advertisement application server422 and an advertisement store 424.

The advertisement application server 422, similar to the web server 412in the media management server 410, is configured to receiveadvertisements transmitted to the advertisement server 420 and storesthe received advertisements in the advertisement store 424.

The received advertisements may include associated ownershipinformation.

The advertisement store 424 stores the advertisements and associatedownership information received from the advertisement application server422. Similar to the media store 418, the advertisement store 424 may bea relational database or any other type of database. The advertisementstore 424 may be stored centrally and operated on a single computer.Alternatively, the advertisement store 424 can include multipledatabases, each individually maintained by an advertiser.

In one embodiment, the advertisement server 420 can be combined with themedia management server 410. For example, the application server 414 andthe web server 412 can be configured to implement the functions of theadvertisement application server 422, and the media store 418 can beconfigured to store the advertisements and associated ownershipinformation that would otherwise be stored in the advertisement store424.

The client devices 430A-C include hardware and/or software devices thatare configured to transmit media content to and/or receive media contentfrom the media management server 410 and/or the advertisement server420. The client devices 430 can optionally include displays (e.g., anLCD screen) and speakers. In one embodiment, one or more of the clientdevices 430 can be a media device 100. There can be many client devices430 in the system 400. FIG. 4 displays only three client devices 430 forclarity.

In one embodiment, the client device 430 is configured to play thecombined media content and advertisements received from the mediamanagement server 410 and/or the advertisement server 420. For example,the client device 430 can include the media player client as describedabove, which can play video clips received from the media managementserver 410 to end users.

In one embodiment, the media management server 410, the advertisementserver 420 and the client devices 430A-C are structured to include aprocessor, memory, storage, network interfaces, and applicable operatingsystem and other functional software (e.g., network drivers,communication protocols).

The network 440 is configured to connect the media management server410, the advertisement server 420, and the client devices 430A-C. Thenetwork 440 may be a wired or wireless network. Examples of the network440 include the Internet, an intranet, a cellular network, or acombination thereof.

Operation of the Media Content Management System

FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram of a process of the media contentmanagement system 400 for sharing media content in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. In this process, the media managementserver 410 hosts a community website where users of the website canupload, download, share, and exchange media content (e.g., video clips).The process illustrated in FIG. 5 may be implemented in software,hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.

The process illustrated in FIG. 5 starts with a client device 430Areceiving 510 a media stream. As described above with reference to FIG.5, the client device 430A can include a media device 100 receiving mediacontent and/or media stream from a plurality of sources, such as a TVbroadcasting network. The client device 430A can be configured to playthe media stream to a user as the stream is received.

The client device 430A captures 520 a media clip in the received mediastream. In one embodiment, the client device 430A continually capturesand caches the most recently received media stream. The user can use agraphical interface provided by the client device 430A to select thebeginning and end of the clip in the cached portion of the media streamthat the user would like to capture.

The client device 430A sends 530 the captured media clip to thecommunity website using a communication protocol supported by the webserver 412. The web server 412 can require the user to first become acommunity member by registering an account before they can upload anymedia content in the community website. The client device 430A can beconfigured to send 530 the media clip to the community website using theuser's account.

After receiving the media clip from the client device 430A, the webserver 412 stores it in the media store 418. In one embodiment, the webserver 412 also receives identification information related to thereceived media clip, and stores it in the media store 418 along with themedia clip. The web server 412 can provide the received media clips onthe community website for members to access. One example of thecommunity website listing the received media clips is illustrated inFIG. 3( c). The webpage shown in FIG. 3( c) lists media clips receivedfrom members of the community website. Users accessing this webpage canaccess the listed media clips by clicking on them.

The application server 414 combines 540 advertisements with the receivedmedia clip. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the applicationserver 414 can receive advertisements from the advertisement server 420through the web server 412 and the network 440.

The application server 414 can combine 540 the media clip and theadvertisements in different manners. As described above, media contentand advertisements can include data in medium such as text, audio, stillimages, video, and graphics. The application server 414 can determine amanner to combine a media clip and an advertisement based on the formsof information included in the media clip and the advertisement. Forexample, if both include video and/or audio, the application server 414can join them together, so that the advertisement leads into or followsthe media clip. As another example, the application server 414 canpresent the advertisement alongside the media clip in a web page, suchthat interested users can access the web page for the media clip, andthereby view the advertisement. As still another example, theapplication server 414 can place the advertisement as an overlay to thevideo portion of the media clip. The application server 414 can combinethe advertisements with the media clip when the web server 412 firstreceiving the media clip or after receiving a request for the mediaclip. Alternatively, the application server 414 can conduct thecombination 540 periodically.

In one embodiment, the application server 414 can be configured toenforce restrictions associated with the media content and theadvertisements. The advertisements can have restrictions limiting themedia content that can be associated with them. For example, anadvertiser can prohibit its advertisements from being associated withmedia content including adult material. As another example, anadvertisement (e.g., an automobile advertisement) can require theassociated media content to include content relevant to the subjectmatter of the advertisement (e.g., video clips about car race). Mediacontent can also have restrictions limiting the advertisements that canbe associated with the media content.

In one embodiment, the application server 414 identifies restrictionsassociated with the media clip and/or the advertisements and combines540 the media clip and the advertisements only if the associatedrestrictions are satisfied. For example, the application server 414 cancombine 540 the media clip with advertisements by first identifyingadvertisements that satisfy restrictions associated with the media clip,then selecting one or more of the identified advertisements where thecombination does not violate the restrictions associated with theselected advertisements, and combining 540 the media clip with theselected advertisements.

Another user of the community website sends 550 a request for the mediaclip to the community website using a client device 430B. Afterreceiving the request, the web server 412 provides 560 the combinedmedia clip and advertisements to the client device 430B through thenetwork 440. The web server 412 can provide the combined media clip andadvertisements in different manners. For example, the web server 412 cansend an email to the user containing the associated advertisement and apointer reference to the media clip. The user can access the media clipby clicking the pointer reference. Alternatively, the web server 412 canprovide the user with a webpage including the combined media clip andthe advertisements. After receiving the combined media clip andadvertisements, the client device 430B can play 570 it to the user.

The operator of the community website may receive 580 an advertisementfee from an advertiser in exchange for providing 560 the combined mediaclip and advertisement to the user. As described above with reference toFIG. 4, the payment server 416 keeps track of the relationship betweenthe advertisers and their advertisements. Therefore, the payment server416 can identify the advertisers associated with the combinedadvertisements, determine the advertisement fees for the advertisers topay, and charge the advertisers accordingly.

In one embodiment, the advertisement fees are determined by a standardadvertising model (e.g., Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), Pay PerThousand Advertising (PPM), Fixed Rate) determined by the operator andthe advertisers. Various advertising models that may be used with thesystem 400 are disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/780,709,filed Mar. 8, 2006, the content of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. The advertising model can provide a range ofadvertising fees based on multiple factors, such as the nature of theadvertisement (e.g., video, audio, or text) and the manner of theassociation (e.g., the advertisement is joined with a video clip). Thepayment server 416 can charge the advertising fees from the advertisersby debiting their accounts.

The operator of the community website may also provide 590 a portion ofthe advertising fees to a content owner in exchange for permission toprovide 560 the combined media clip and advertisement to the users. Asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 4, the payment server 416 keepstrack of the ownership information of the media content. Therefore, thepayment server 416 can identify the content owners of the media clip,determine the portion of the advertising fees to the content owners, andcredit the content owners accordingly.

In one embodiment, the payment is determined by a royalty ratedetermined by the operator and the content owners. Similar to theadvertising model, the royalty rate can provide a range of royaltypayments based on factors such as the nature of the media content. Inone embodiment, the royalty is a fixed percentage of the advertisementrevenue generated by providing advertisements with media content ownedby the content owner. The content owners can also set a fixed fee fortheir media content. For example, the owner of a home video clip canrequire 5¢ per access to the video clip. The payment server 416 canprovide 590 the royalty payment to the content owners by crediting theiraccounts.

Business Model for the Media Content Management System

FIG. 6 is a diagram depicting the interactions among entities involvedin the operation of the media content management system 400 (hereinaftercalled “the system 400”) according to a business model. The interactionsillustrated in FIG. 6 may be implemented in software, hardware, or acombination of hardware and software.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the system 400 can operate to enable users toshare and exchange media content, generate advertising revenue bydistributing advertisements with the media content, and share therevenue with content owners in exchange for permissions to provide themedia content to users with the advertisements. In stead of or inaddition to sharing the revenue with the content owners, the system 400can enables the content owners to control the use of their media contentby providing restrictions for permissions to provide their media contentto users with the advertisements.

Entities involved in the operation of the system 400 include an operatorof the community website 610, advertisers 620, content owners 630, andusers 640. The operator runs the media management server 410 to providea community website 610 for the users 640 to store, share, and exchangemedia content, and distribute advertisements with the media content tothe users 640. The advertisers 620 provide advertisements to thecommunity website 610 to be provided to the users 640 together with themedia content in exchange for payments. The users 640 share mediacontent through the community website 610. The content owners 630 givethe community website 610 rights to distribute their media content tothe users 640 in exchange for payments and/or control.

The community website 610 receives media content from the users 640. Asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 4, the community website 610 canrequire the users 640 to become registered members to upload mediacontent to and/or download media content from the community website 610.The received media content include media content that the users 640 areinterested in themselves and/or feel will have a wide appeal to a largeaudience. The users 640 can also provide descriptive information aboutthe media content to the community website 610.

The community website 610 receives restrictions of the media contentfrom the content owners 630. In one embodiment, a media content unit canhave one or more associated restrictions limiting the use of the mediacontent unit. In one embodiment, these restrictions can be provided inthe metadata of the associated media content. For example, restrictionsassociated with a video clip can be transmitted during the VerticalBlanking Interval (VBI) when the video clip is transmitted to the mediamanagement server 410. VBI is the period of time between frames in avideo transmission when information is still being transmitted but whenthe information is not being displayed on the screen. Alternatively, theweb server 412 can be configured to accept these restrictions separatelyfrom the associated media content. For example, the content owners 630can set restrictions applicable to all or a portion of their mediacontent by interacting with the web server 412. The content owners 630can also set restrictions applicable to their media content not yet inthe media management server 410.

In one embodiment, the community website 610 can enable the contentowners to set a broad range of restrictions to their media content, suchas: the duration, the quality (resolution, frame rate of a videocontent, bit rate of an audio content), and the number of people allowedto access the media content. For example, a content owner can set ageneric rule like: “All Seinfeld video clips display at lower resolutionand may be no longer than 2.5 minutes.” After identifying a piece ofmedia content containing a Seinfeld video clip, the community server 610may allow access to the media content only if the restriction is notviolated. The community website 610 can be configured to modify themedia content (e.g., reduce the duration and/or resolution of a video)to enforce the associated restrictions. Alternatively, the modificationcan be conducted on the user side (e.g., the client devices 430 can beconfigured to enforce the restrictions).

Content owners 630 may also restrict the access to their media content.For example, the content owners 630 can restrict the access to a mediacontent unit to be by invitation only (e.g., sharing video clips withfriends and acquaintances) or available only to registered members.Therefore, the community website 610 will allow users 640 to access amedia content unit only if the associated restrictions set by thecontent owners are satisfied.

Content owners 630 may also restrict the advertisements that can beassociated with their media content. For example, a media content unitcan have a restriction prohibiting any association with automobileadvertisements. As another example, a piece of media content can have arestriction limiting the duration of the associated video advertisement.

Under this business model, content owners 630 may have strong incentivesto allow sharing of their media content with the public to promote thepopularity of the media content and generate more royalty income, evenwithout receiving a portion of any advertising revenue. For example,Walt Disney Studios may specify in the restrictions that its MickeyMouse media content are publicly available to promote a re-release of aMickey Mouse movie or to promote visiting its theme parks. The contentowners may have additional incentives by allowing third-partyadvertisers to attach their own advertisements to the clipped videocontent, by then receiving a portion of or the entire advertising fee.

The community website 610 receives advertisements from the advertisers620. The community website 610 can also receive restrictions from theadvertisers 620. Similar to the restrictions provided by the contentowners 630, these restrictions limit the media content to be combinedwith the advertisements, and thereby enable the advertisers 620 tobetter target their advertisements to the right audience.

The community website 610 combines the media content with theadvertisements. This combination normally must satisfy the restrictionsprovided by both the content owners 630 and the advertisers 620. Thecommunity website 610 then provides the combined media content and theadvertisements to the users 640.

The operator receives advertising fees from the advertisers 620 fordistributing the advertisements to the users 640. The operator can sharethis revenue with the content owners 630 for permissions to provide themedia content to the users 640 with the advertisements, to the extentthe content owners 630 have rights in the media content.

In one embodiment, the community website 610 distributes the advertisingrevenue among all entities involved in the operation of the system 410,including the operator, the content owners 630, and even the users 640that uploaded and/or downloaded the media content. In other embodiments,the advertising fees may be shared just between a subset of the parties,such as the content owners 630 and the operator. In still otherembodiments, the advertising fees may be shared with other participantsin the distribution chain of the media content, such as the operator ofthe originating television service (such as a cable provider, especiallyif the media content originate from content served by an associated settop box), an Internet service provider (ISP) that provides the bandwidthused by the source (such as a place-shifting device), and/or the ISPthat provides the bandwidth used by the client device 430 (such as awireless network provider in the case where the client device 430 is aportable device using a wireless network).

As described above, the operator can operate the system 400 to generateadvertising revenue by distributing user-supplied media content withadvertisements. The operator can share the revenue with the contentowners 630 in exchange for permissions to provide the media content tothe users 640 with the advertisements. The system 400 also provides thecontent owners 630 with the ability to control the use of their mediacontent to address their fears of losing control over their mediacontent.

Example Process for the Media Content Management System

The principles described herein can be further illustrated through anexample of an operation of the media content management system 400(hereinafter called “the system 400”) in accordance with one embodimentof the invention. In this example, the system 400 hosts a communitywebsite 610 where users of the website can share audio/video clips.

The example commences with a user 640 watching a TV program Seinfeldpreviously captured by a Personal Video Recorder (PVR, client device430). The user 640 finds a section of the video interesting, and invokesa graphical interface of the PVR to capture the video section byselecting the beginning and end of the section. The PVR creates a videoclip (Seinfeld clip) containing the captured video section and uploadthe Seinfeld clip to the community website 610 using the user's account.

The application server 414 identifies the subject matter of the receivedclip using the metadata stored during the VBI of the video clip,associates the clip with the content owner, Sony Pictures Digital Inc.,and stores the clip and the related information in the media store 418.

A second user 640 of the community website 610 subsequently conductssearches in the website 610 for video clips related to Seinfeld using acomputer (client device 430), and locates the Seinfeld clip previouslyreceived. The second user 640 then submits a request for the Seinfeldclip.

In response to the second user 640's request, the community website 610checks the restrictions applicable to the Seinfeld clip. The contentowner, Sony Pictures Digital Inc., has set a restriction applicable toall Seinfeld video clips limiting their duration to be no more than 2.5minutes. After confirming that the Seinfeld clip lasts no more than 2.5minutes, the community website 610 identifies an advertisement for eBaypromoting its Seinfeld related auction items (eBay advertisement).Advertiser eBay sets a restriction limiting the eBay advertisement to becombined only with video clips related to Seinfeld. The applicationserver 414 confirms that combining the Seinfeld clip and the eBayadvertisement does not violate the restrictions associated with eitherthe clip or the advertisement, then joins the advertisement and the clipinto a combined clip, such that the eBay advertisement leads into theSeinfeld clip. Subsequently, the community website 610 generates awebpage including a pointer reference to the combined clip, andredirects the second user 640 to the generated webpage, where the seconduser 640 downloads the combined clip.

After the combined clip is downloaded in the second user 640′s computer,the computer plays the eBay advertisement and the Seinfeld clip to thesecond user 640. The payment server 416 calculates an advertisement feefor the advertiser eBay and deducts the fee from its account. Thepayment server 416 also calculates a royalty payment for the contentowner, Sony Pictures Digital Inc., and credits the payment to itsaccount.

Summary

Embodiments of the invention can provide a web portal for users to shareand exchange media contents, while grant content owners rights tocontrol the use of their media content. Operator of the web portal cangenerate advertising revenue by distributing advertisements togetherwith media contents to the users, and share the revenue with the contentowners to compensate them for their permissions to provide their mediacontent to the users.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein can beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps operations, or processes described. For example, thephysical components used in the system may depend on the method in whichthe media content is delivered to one or more users of that mediacontent.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention belimited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto.

Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specificationhas been principally selected for readability and instructionalpurposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribethe inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of theinvention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scopeof the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

1-32. (canceled)
 33. A computer-implemented method executable by a server communicating on a network, the method comprising: receiving a video clip at the server from a first user, wherein the video clip comprises a portion of a video stream, wherein the portion is selected by the first user, wherein the video stream comprises original content owned by one or more original content owners, and wherein the video clip is received from the first user with identification information that identifies the original content used to create the video clip; identifying, using the server, the one or more owners of the original content based upon the identification information received with the video clip; combining advertisements with the received video clip using the server; and providing the combined video clip and advertisements from the server to the second user upon requests for the video clip subsequently received by the server.
 34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: receiving one or more restrictions associated with the original content from the one or more owners, the one or more restrictions indicating one or more limitations on how the video clip is provided to the second user.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the one or more restrictions limit the advertisements that can be combined with the video clip.
 36. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions limit the length of the video clip that can be provided to the second user.
 37. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions limit a quality characteristic of the video clip that can be provided to the second user, and wherein the quality characteristic is selected from a group consisting of: a resolution, a frame rate, and a bit rate.
 38. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions limit the number of second users who can be provided a particular item of the video clip.
 39. The method of claim 34, wherein one or more of the restrictions identify a particular item of the video clip that cannot be provided to the second user.
 40. A computer-implemented method executable by a server, comprising: receiving a content item from a first user at the server via a network, wherein the content item is a video clip that comprises a portion of a video stream that is selected by the first user, wherein the video stream comprises original content that is owned by one or more owners, and wherein the content item is received from the first user with identification information that identifies the original content; identifying, using the server, the one or more owners of the original content based upon the identification information received with the content item from the first user; receiving a request for the content item from a second user by the server; and providing the content item from the server to the second user.
 41. The method of claim 40, further comprising: receiving one or more restrictions associated with the original content from the one or more owners, the one or more restrictions indicating one or more limitations on how the content item created from the original content is provided to the second user.
 42. The method of claim 40, further comprising determining, using the server, whether the owner of the content has given permission to provide the content item to the second user.
 43. A computer-implemented method executable by a server providing a media content item, the method comprising: receiving the media content item from a first user at the server, wherein the media content item is a media clip that is created by the first user as a selected portion of a media stream, wherein the media stream comprises original content owned by one or more content owners, and wherein the media content item comprises identifying information that identifies the original content used to create the media content; determining, using the server, the one or more content owners based upon the identifying information received from the first user with the media content item; implementing, at the server, one or more restrictions based upon the original content from the one or more content owners, the one or more restrictions indicating one or more limitations on how the media content item based upon the original content is provided; receiving, at the server, a request for the media content item; and providing the requested media content items from the server in response to the request, the content item provided in accordance with the associated one or more restrictions.
 44. The method of claim 43 wherein the identification information is automatically determined when the first user creates the media content item.
 45. The method of claim 44 wherein the identification information is automatically determined from information associated with a source of the original content.
 46. The method of claim 44 wherein the identification information is automatically obtained from an electronic program guide that describes the original content.
 47. The method of claim 43 wherein the media content item is a video clip comprising a portion of a received media stream comprising the original content that is received by one of the users.
 48. The method of claim 43 further comprising charging, by the server, advertising fees from one or more advertisers in exchange for providing an advertisement with the media clip.
 49. The method of claim 48 further comprising crediting, by the server, a portion of the advertising fees to the one or more owners of the original content.
 50. The method of claim 43 wherein the media clip comprises a portion of the stream having a beginning and an end determined by a user of the media player, and wherein the identification information comprises information obtained from an electronic program guide at the media player that describes the original content.
 51. The method of claim 50 wherein the identification information identifies the original content by a program name.
 52. The method of claim 50 wherein the identification information identifies the original content by a broadcast network that broadcast the original content. 